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Hello, Welcome, and THANK YOU for visiting! KiwiConfections is here to inspire you to have fun cooking delicious and nutritious food even when you don't think there's a minute to spare. Finding balance never tasted so good!

8.18.2013

A Women’s Magazine Article that Actually Said Something + A Recipe

I read an article in Glamour magazine’s September
issue while at the gym last week, and it was pretty great. In a nutshell, it
dispelled the myth of today’s ideal woman—Wonder Woman. So it got me thinking
about the comic book starlet…She has super powers. She’s smart. She
kicks ass at work and at home. And did
I mention that she’s hot? It’s no surprise, then, that Wonder Woman is actually
the product of a pretty famous male
psychologist. His name was William Moulton Marston, and he was already a big
deal in his profession because he invented a blood-pressure monitoring
apparatus that was instrumental in the creation of the lie-detector test. In
describing the underlying theme of his female superhero creation Marston said, “Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of
woman who should, I believe, rule the world."1

While William Marston may
have had the best of intensions in creating a new female heroin for little
girls to look up to, Wonder Woman has become the caricature of something young
women today constantly feel pressure to live up to. Young women including
myself! Of course I am rational enough to know that there’s no such thing as a Gisele Bündchen, M.D. PhD that also has a perfect home life, tons of
friends, a sweet spot for humanitarian work, and a knack for entertaining and
bake sales. Actually, I think I kinda have believed that. Slowly, but surely I’m
learning that Wonder Woman is not real and trying to be like her just leads to
disaster. I am also learning the best tricks at surviving real life—not Wonder
Woman style,not Gangam style, just me style. Me-style includes (but is not
limited to): 1) frugal- I’m a med student surviving on student loans 2) quick-
I have to study all the time, and when I’m not studying I want to see the
people I haven’t seen in forever because I’ve been studying All. The. Time. 3) taste conscious- I love
eating, and it can sometimes be the highlight of my day, so it’s got to taste
good 4) healthy- after I graduate my job will be to tell people to be healthier
and help them become so. I want to walk the walk not just talk the talk. Plus I
feel better.

I’ll continue to share these tricks of surviving me-style on
the blog, but let’s start with one of my favorites….

Crockpot meals! (No, not queso dip) They’re not glamorous, but we’re talking about real life here, remember?
What’s awesome about these are that they work on my $50/week food budget, allow
me to still get my 8 hours of studying in, and provide something yummy and
healthy to eat. One of my favorites right now is Chicken Tortilla Soup. The
recipe takes away any excuse you have to not make yourself a healthy
home-cooked dinner tonight.

*To make this recipe vegetarian: Substitute
frozen edamame and/or black beans for the chicken. Don’t add the edamame or
black beans until the end of the cooking time. Sub low sodium vegetable broth
in for the chicken broth.

Directions

Before you go to sleep: place the raw chicken,
tomatoes, enchilada sauce, garlic, onion, Serrano, water, chicken broth, and
seasonings in a crock pot. Do not add the (edamame and/or black beans), corn, cilantro,
lime or avocado in yet. Set it to medium or low heat. Allow it to cook over
night: 6 to 8 hours.

After it is done cooking, use a fork to break
apart/shred the chicken (while in the crockpot). Add in the (edamame), corn,and
cilantro. Cover the pot with the lid and allow it to slowly cool down for 30
minutes. During this time, the (edamame and/or
beans), corn, and cilantro will also warm up.

Serve into bowls. Squeeze in a bit of lime into
each bowl and add 5 or 6 slices of avocado to each bowl. You can also add some
tortilla chips in, but I love it without chips too. Enjoy!

(Or, store the chicken tortilla soup in Tupperware
until it’s meal time. Heat up individual servings in the microwave. Then add
slices of avocado and some lime before eating).